Leeds United 1-0 Burnley

Brian McDermott's much needed revival of Leeds United continued with a comfortable 1-0 victory over Burnley. A Rodolph Austin goal mid-way through the second half was enough to seal back to back league wins for the first time since late November, maintaining the new manager's perfect start in the process. McDermott, taking charge of his second game, made three changes from the team that beat Sheffield Wednesday with Tom Lees returning from suspension and being joined back in the starting eleven by El Hadji Diouf and Michael Tonge. Adam Drury was benched whilst Steve Morison and David Norris missed out completely. Burnley were dealt a severe blow with the loss of leading goalscorer Charlie Austin and manager Sean Dyche made two changes from the side that lost at Blackburn. Fulham loanee Alex Kacaniklic replaced Junior Stanislas and Martin Paterson was set the difficult task of filling the goalscoring void left behind by Austin. Yes I did use BBC Sport to check the spelling of Kacaniklic.

In McDermott's first game Leeds had shown improvements, vast in some areas but marginal in others. A half time team talk encouraging the players to play with "no fear" seemed to work and this ethos continued in the early stages of today. Despite not carving out any clear cut chances, Leeds played some good football and applied pressure in the final third. The lack of clinical final touch was evident though and after a succession of corners a wonderful delivery from Michael Tonge flashed across the six yard box. The home side finally got something on the end of a cross after half an hour and after Jason Pearce's header was cleared by Shackell, Luke Varney headed against the cross-bar when it looked easier to score. Burnley were largely disappointing but did carve out two chances just before the break. After Ross Wallace curled a shot wide from the edge of the area, Martin Paterson drove an angled strike against the side netting. The sides went in at half time level and goal-less. Who would have expected anything else? Leeds have now gone nineteen games without scoring in the first period.

They could have taken the lead fifteen seconds into the second half though, but Saturday's hero Varney continued to play Tuesday's villain by failing to convert from five yards after a low, driven ball across the box from McCormack. The Scot had seemingly been swapped with Diouf at half time, putting him "in the hole" and he flourished, continuously dictating the tempo of the game and keeping Leeds in control. Another chance was spurned by Varney, with Lee Grant making a good save but McDermott's "no fear" ethos was beginning to shine. It was this ethos that led to the goal.

I'd love to intricately describe every single pass in what was an outstanding move, but there were too many. It was almost like the famous Argentina goal at the 2006 World Cup. The crucial pass was played by Diouf who threaded a wonderful ball through the heart of defence which Rudy Austin latched onto after a powerful run. It only took the Jamaican one touch to slot the ball under Lee Grant, completing off the excellent move in some style. The goal typified everything McDermott preaches and is hopefully just the start of an era in which passing football is made a priority. It was like watching Brazil. "We're Leeds United, we're passing the ball". 

From left to right: Diouf, Varney, Kenny, Lees...

For ten minutes or so Leeds were comfortable, not impressive, before Burnley rallied slightly. After the ball rebounded unluckily off Byram, Chris McCann fired wide when he probably should have done better and Wallace volleyed wide after good work by Kacaniklic. I copied and pasted the spelling that time. Despite the away side's brief spell, the centre half pairing of Lees and Pearce were as strong as they had been all evening and Leeds held on with minimal ease. Two wins out of two for McDermott and three straight home wins against our opponents from across the Pennines.


The fans that made the trip across those Pennines had to have been disappointed with what they saw. Take Charlie Austin out of the Clarets and what you had tonight was a fairly lukewarm blend of average players that are still, given the somewhat ridiculous nature of the Championship, in a relegation battle. Leeds however could only beat the side put out in front of them and completed the job professionally despite a few nervy moments. The back four were as solid as they have been for a while, in particular Tom Lees who's presence also seemed to settle down the sometimes panicked Jason Pearce alongside him. Both were excellent and Sam Byram and Stephen Warnock complimented them well, putting in solid shifts of their own. Tonge was arguably the biggest disappointment; despite his natural ability with the ball at his feet, he still looks a yard off the pace. Austin had to be the man of the match as, similarly to Saturday, he produced the kind of performance that made himself an instant hit at Elland Road in August. His work-rate, tackling and powerful running is back to what it was at the start of the season and his goal completed a fairly excellent performance. Varney's abundance of missed opportunities hindered his overall effect on the game and whilst Paul Green and El Hadji Diouf played well, the other special mention had to go to Ross McCormack. The Scot seems to have found a new lease of life in recent weeks and proved effective both up-front and when dropped back into the midfield. McDermott has already labelled him a talent and a side built around him next year could prove to be a successful one.

I'm looking forward to Saturday more than I've looked forward to any away game so far. Let's have away win number four of the season.

In McDermott we trust.